The 5 of us (Me, Mark, Jackie, Jillian and Zach) left around 12:30 pm after loading up our rental car with our costumes, bags, and alcohol to last us through the 2 days of festivities that lay ahead. In Europe, stick shift cars are commonplace and rental car companies charge more for automatic. Zach, being the only one who could drive stick, stepped it up big time and agreed to do all of the driving, including the twelve hour roundtrip it would take us to get to Cadiz and back.
The drive there was uneventful though the Spanish countryside is beautiful: Low rolling hills, lush trees and lots of cows and sheep. We arrived just after nightfall at our hotel in an area called Canos de Meca, about a 40 minute drive from Cadiz. As seems to always be the case, there was a problem with how we booked the room which was resolved after about 20 minutes of arguing and us having to pay another 30 euro more (were working on getting that back.)
While everyone was bitter about having to fork over an extra 6 euro, all was forgotten when we saw how nice our accomadations were: full living room and kitchen, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms.
We hurried to the supermarket as it was closing and luckily, the employees were nice enough to keep the store opened while we raced around in a frenzy buying the supplies we decided we would need to sustain ourselves for two days.
After a delectable pasta dinner cooked by Zach, we decided it wasn't worth making the 40 minute drive into Cadiz (as it was already 11:00 pm) and we'd be better off getting to sleep early and saving energy for the next day.
At 10:30am we wake up for some breakfast and morning drinks.
(ASIDE: Morning drinks, in this case orange juice and vodka, is not something I do with anything resembling regularity but, when in Carnaval, one of the biggest party days in Europe, sometimes you have to bite the bullet, give it your all, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, pace yourself. Experience is always something you get after you need it most.)
After a hearty breakfast of eggs and hash browns cooked by Mark and Zach , we arrived at the main carnaval scene around 2:30 pm after finding a close enough parking garage and making 5 bathroom trips for the girls.
Our first question was the legality of the so called "botellon" or the spanish word for "drinking on the street." We didn't see many people with bottles in their hands during the day but as the night went on, it became clear there wasn't an issue as most people had full bottles of liquor to themselves.
The daytime was relatively tame with dressed up people = personas disfrazadas crowding the narrow streets moving to the various attractions located at different plazas in the downtown area of Cadiz. Having been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans my freshman year of college, I found myself constantly comparing the two cities. Here were the basic differences:
1) Mardi Gras, or better yet Bourbon Street, is filthy: littered with trash, beads, empty "hand grenades" and "hurricanes" (if you've been you know what I'm talking about), solo cups, vomit, and the occasional over-partyer. Cadiz was relatively clean. Beads, and the accompanying "flashing," are by no means part of the tradition.
2) The grand parades, with floats and colorful costumes, happen in both cities though we arrived too late to see the one in Cadiz. Zach and I were dressed as gangsters circa 1923, Jillian was our flapper, and Mark and Jackie were dressed as cowboys.
3) The Cadiz Carnaval is famous for its "Chirigotas" which is an unknown concept in the States. Basically, the Chirigotas are various comedic groups that walk around the city performing songs replete with political and sexual humor. The songs have so many verses it would put Don McClean's "American Pie" to shame. The more famous Chirigotas perform on the bigger stages set up around the city while the smaller ones perform seemingly at random in the streets whenever there is a group big enough to watch. The five of us watched a group of 7 men perform a 15-minute song dressed up as the "world's strongest man" that you would find in a tent at a carnival. They even had the old-fashioned barbells, muscle suits, and curled mustaches. It was difficult to understand the humor but the refrain was a pun on the fact that the men were so.... ahem... shall we say....well equipped ?
As we walked around the streets Mark and I split a bottle of our newest alcohol creation called Vaquero. Here's the recipe, its really difficult so be ready to write it down: 2 liters of sprite, a 5th of rum, and 2 limes.
As it got later, the typical carnaval food began making its appearances as vendors set up stands in all the major plazas: pizza, baked potatoes, churros, candies of all sorts and kebobs.
ASIDE: When talking about kebobs in Spain, in some places on the menu they appear as morisco or some variation of word meaning "muslim on a skewer." It's a pretty racist term that comes from the days when the Muslims were being expelled from Spain during the reconquista. Either way its a great late night snack.
I'm slightly embarassed to it admit it, but by 12:15am I was wiped. I guess drinking for 14 hours will do that to you, but there was a distinct moment when we were talking to a group of 20 year old spanish guys dressed up as school girls when I fell asleep for about 30 second standing up. That was more amusing to the group than it was for me, but not as hilarious as when Mark, after finishing the Vaquero, wiped his baked potato hands on Jillian's rain jacket. He swears he doesn't remember doing it.
That was, as best as I can describe it, our night. I finally got my camera working but I forgot my camera cord in the States and will be unable to upload any of my personal pictures to the blog until I get back (unless I can find one here.)
I actually won't be traveling again until the 2nd week of March when Nicole and I go to Barcelona (finally!!) I'll make sure to post some with all of my free time. After Barcelona things are getting crazy with finals, followed by an Emory excursion to Andalucia = Southern Spain for Granada y Seville. After Andalucia it's spring break, which for me, will be Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague where I'll be celebrating my birthday.
Look for Amanda's post soon about her own Carnaval experience in Ciudad Rodrigo. If you're lucky maybe she'll post the video of her dancing on a table dressed as a cowgirl, spinning her tail in the face of some enthralled Spaniards.
Esto es todo para ahora, gracias para leerlo, hasta luego mis lectores fieles.
-Corey (or as the Spaniards say: Koo-ree)
Carnaval themed words of the day:
Disfraz- Costume
mascara- Mask
No comments:
Post a Comment